52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 'Favourite Discovery'
Changing names twice does not help family historians!
Part 1 The First Name Change.
The 1871 census listed Laura age 10 living with her grandparents George and Harriet Watts. He was a retired publican born Bacton living at Acle, Norfolk.
Poor Charles died age 26 and his wife Maria age 32. Their daughter Laura was brought up by her Watts grandparents.
Source Citation: Great Yarmouth, England; Oxford City Council Burial Registers. Ancestry.com. England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers.
When my father retired in 1984, my parents moved to East Runton near Cromer in Norfolk. His mother Annie Bertha Cubitt had died aged 37 of influenza pneumonia in 1927 when my father was just 8 years old. He knew very little about her background except she had been born in Norfolk, her marriage certificate had shown no father's name and that she had a brother William whom he had met only once as a small child. To find out more he visited the Norfolk Record Office in Norwich and came away with a birth certificate for Annie which both surprised and upset him. Annie was indeed illegitimate and born in Norwich. The mother's name was Laura Cubitt, a bar maid of Bull Close Road, Norwich but other than that he was unable to find anything more about her or his uncle William.
My own interest in family history began in about 1995 and when visiting my mum and dad I was able to visit the archives in both Norfolk and Suffolk where most of my ancestry lies and made great inroads to my maternal side and the paternal side for my father. However, it wasn't until the 1901 census was released online in 2002 that I was able to discover any more regarding his mother's family and the mysterious Laura Cubitt.
Laura, age 40, born Catfield, a commercial clerk and daughter Annie were living at 12 Providence Place, Gorleston, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Eventually, through census and parish records, I was able to trace Laura back to the 1861 census where she was living as a boarder, age 1, with the Crane family in Catfield. I couldn't believe it! Where were her parents?
1861 census for Laura Cubitt
1871 census for Laura Cubitt with George Watts
George Watts on the 1861 census was the inn keeper of The Crown, Catfield and with him was his son in law Charles F Cubitt. I had found a parent! I found out later that her mother Maria Cubitt nee Watts was a patient at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital at the time of the 1861 census which was probably the reason Laura was with the Crane family just down the road from The Crown.
1861 Census for Charles F Cubitt and George Watts
It was way back in 2006 after I had joined Genes Reunited that one of the founder members of Family Tree Forum (FTF) found my great grandmother on FreeBMD. She had been born Laura Cubitt Sharman.
Births Jun 1860 SHARMAN Laura Cubitt Tunstead 4b 36
I sent for a copy of the certificate and here she is - at last!
1860 Birth Certificate for Laura Cubitt Sharman
9th March 1836 Charles Frederick Sharman baptism - base born
Laura's father, Charles Frederick Sharman, was base born but on the marriage certificate he names his father as Charles George Sharman - a farmer. I have never found this man on any census, marriage or birth index.
Marriage Certificate
I suspect Charles had been told who his father was and he dropped the name Sharman in favour of Cubitt by 1861. Charles and Maria named their first born son Charles George Cubitt Sharman - born and died 1859.
This is pure speculation but there was a Charles George Cubitt b 1801 living in Catfield at this time??? A coincidence but maybe DNA will prove the link one day.
1851 census Charles G Cubitt b 1801
Poor Charles died age 26 and his wife Maria age 32. Their daughter Laura was brought up by her Watts grandparents.
Part 2 The Second Name Change
The 1911 census lists Laura age 51 and son William age 29 living at 4 Jirah Place, Great Yarmouth. Laura was working in a silk factory and William as a quay labourer.
1911 census
However it appears William did not always live with his mother. In 1891 the census shows him age 9 with his great aunt Mary Ann Harrison living Moat Road, Yarmouth together with her sons Robert and Clifford. Mary Ann Harrison was the sister of Laura's mother Maria Watts(Cubitt).
1891 census
Again William is with the Harris family in 1901 living 9 North River Road but it would appear both Robert and Williams ages are slightly out here. Censuses are only a snapshot in time but I do wonder whether William was brought up by his aunt rather than his mother.
1901 census
William was the informant of his mother's death in 1913
and gave his address as 23 Higher Ormond Street, Chorlton on Medlock,
Manchester.
1913 Death certificate for Laura Cubitt
Why William moved to Manchester is not known.
I have never been able to find a birth certificate for William and have been unable to find him in Manchester using Electoral Rolls. I have searched for him using the names Cubitt, Sharman and even Harrison.
I gave up searching for William for many years and then last year I thought I would have another go and took the problem back to Family Tree Forum. I was thinking now that William must have changed his name and the most likely place to start would be with the name Harrison.
Member 'Vera' found a will for a Robert Melton Harrison of Yarmouth with probate granted to a William Harrison - Manchester. Robert Melton Harrison was a 2nd cousin to William Cubitt; his mother was Maria Watts' sister Mary Ann. William was with Robert and the Harris family on both the 1891 and 1901 censuses. This was looking very promising so I sent for the will. I remember waiting with such high hopes - I had started looking for this man nearly 20 years ago.
When the will arrived it wasn't a will it was the administration which stated that William Harrison was the sole executor of the Will but more importantly to me it gave his address in 1955 namely - 15 Emery Avenue, Manchester. I then found William in the 1939 Register at the same address and he was married to Phoebe. I felt so thrilled for him to be married which sounds incredibly mad!
1939 Register
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| William's death certificate |
The informant E Meadowcroft was William's step daughter Elizabeth. I looked for her on the 1939 Register and luckily she was living at the same address as on William's death certificate - in Hale, Cheshire and her husband was Elijah. I checked out further details:
Elijah Meadowcroft married Elizabeth Miller in Manchester 1935
Elizabeth Miller, mothers maiden name AUSTIN, b 1905 Chorlton
Phoebe Austin married Thomas Miller in Chorlton 1898
Thomas Miller died in 1907 Chorlton, his wife Phoebe is listed on 1911 census as a widow.
Phoebe Miller (Widow) married William Harrison Sept 1919
I found Williams Will but did not order it as he died intestate.
A member of FTF 'Judith' explained what happened here :Its part of the Bona Vacantia rules. If someone dies in Lancashire with no heirs and no will then instead of the treasury, their money goes to the Duchy of Lancaster, similarly in Cornwall the estate goes to the Duchy of Cornwall to be administered. In Lancashire the money passes to the Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust Fund and in Cornwall it passes to the Duke of Cornwall Benevolent Fund.
We were very lucky to also find the detailed burials for both William and his cousin Robert and this was a huge surprise!
William Harrison was born about 1882 and died about 1964 at Withington Hospital, Manchester and was buried 19 June 1964 Great Yarmouth Cemetery, Section A grave no 415.
Robert Melton Harrison was born about 1862 and died about 1955 at Northgate Hospital and was buried 19th April 1955 Great Yarmouth Cemetery, Section A grave no 415
How amazing that after all the searching we find these two end up being together again in the same grave. I feel cousin Robert must have been very close to William having probably grown up together within the same household. Robert would have been about 18 when William came to live with them as a baby. He obviously cared about what happened to him and it would seem looked out for him during his lifetime.
Never give up looking - the information is out there somewhere.😊
By the way, if you are ever visiting the Norfolk Broads, The Crown does lovely Sunday lunches and evening meals! My 3 x great grandfather George Watts and a Cubitt are mentioned in the link.
The Crown at Catfield
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Great post!
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